Tobacco curing shed and heating plant therefor



Nov. 15, 1938. H. W.KOESTER 2,135,922

1 TOBACCO CURING SHED AND HEATING PLANT THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Shet l Filed Oct. 19, 193'? m m w A z W V M @a M m 3H u a B m D F D Nqv. 15, 1938.

H. "w. KOESTER I 2,136,922 TOBACCO CURING SHED AND HEATING PLANT THEREFOR Filed Oct. 19, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FI6.3.V

ATIQRNEYQ atcniecl Nov. 15, 193

TUBACCO CURING SHED AND HEATING PLANT THEREFOR Herman W. Koester, Acme, N. U

Application October 19, 1937, Serial No.

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a tobacco curing shed or barn and a heating plant therefor.

At the present time, the the drying and curing of employed.

of drying and curing the same. Flues of the type described, frequently become red hot and tobacco leaves which may drop down on these hot pipes or fiues from the sticks upon which they are hung. are apt to and often do cause the tobacco to burn and thus destroy the contents of the shed as well as the. shed itself. Sheet metal fines of the type described are also objec- The present invention relates to a furnace and an associated heat radiating system formed from elongated brick and tile passageways which are located on the ground floor of a building suitable with a masonry or brick floor and the products of combustion are vented from the furnace by means of a chimney which is preferably provided with a damper for regulating the operation thereof.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a heating plant for a tobacco shed which is fire-proof, easy to operate and in the use of which an even temperature may be maintained in the shed for the purpose of producing a better grade oi tobacco.

Another object of the invention relates to the provision of a heating plant for a tobacco drying shed which is economical in the use of fuel and which does not require constant attention in order to maintain an even heat in the shed.

A further object of the invention relates to the provision of a tobacco drying barn or shed in which the shed is provided with a suitable floor for preventing moisture from the ground from rising up through the tobacco and thus produc ing a spongy. stem which makes a poor or unsalable grade of tobacco.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent and better understood after consideration has been given to the following detailed description of the invention taken in connection with the drawings which show, erely by way of illustration, structure adapted for carrying out the objects of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevational View of a tobacco drying shed and a heating plant therefor illustrative of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the, tiles which form the heat radiating elements of the heating system; Figure 3 is a plan view of the floor of the shed shown 4 is an enlarged detail line d-- l, Figure 3, of passageway.

The tobacco drying shed or barn to which this sectional view taken on a flue or heat radiating in the shed may bacco. The shed brick or masonry floor 3 so as to prevent dampness in the ground from raising the humidity of the air inside the shed, as would occur if the ground were left uncovered as is now common practice.

The interior oi the of a furnace t of masonry construction which may be of fire brick or any other material of the type described which is suitable for this purpose. This furnace traverses the front wall of the shed and exteriorly of the shed it is provided with an opening 5 by means of which fuel may be supplied to the furnace. The furnace is adapted for the burning of coal or wood and the heated products of combustion are conveyed from the furnace to a passageway 8 extending rearwardly of the furnace to apoint adjacent to the rear wall of the shed.

At the rear of the shed, the passageway 6 connects with two separate branches 1 and 8 contiguous to the rear wall of the shed and they in turn communicate with passageways l and II respectively, contiguous to the side walls of the shed. The last-named passageways extend toward the front wall of the shed near where they connect with upwardly inclining passageways i2 and I3 respectively. The passageways I2 and [3 connect with a single passageway l4 in communication with a chimney l carried by the furnace outside of the shed. The chimney may be proin Figure 1; and Figure shed is heated by means lid vided with a damper (not shown) having an operating handle it outside the chimney.

The passageways 6 to ll inclusive, as is best shown in Figure 4, are formed with brick side walls l1 and a tile top wall It. The side walls may be formed from ordinary building brick and the top wall may be formed from ordinary three cell building tile, one of which is shown in Figure 2 of the drawings, the same being identified by the numeral 2'. The building tile are laid crosswise oi the flue passageways so that their open ends are exposed to the air in the shed to permit the free circulation of air through the tile and thus provide for a relatively large area of heat radiating surfaces.

The tobacco shed heating system disclosed herein has certain important advantages over the more common type in which sheet iron fiues are employed. The use of brick and tile prevents the heating surfaces from becoming excessively hot and good eificiency is achieved by increasing the area available for the radiation of the heat. The use of a fioor covering as shown prevents the natural dampness in the ground from raising the humidity of the shed which is objectionable and harmful to the curing of the tobacco. Danger of fire is obviated because it is practically impossible to raise the temperatureof the radiating surface to the point where it would ignite the tobacco.

The heat radiating fiues have a relatively large thermal capacity and thus maintain a more even temperature in the shed even though the furnace is fired at relatively long intervals. The use of large radiation surfaces which are maintained at a relatively low temperature as in the case of the construction disclosed herein, provides for the even curing of all of the tobacco in the shed and there is no tendency to parch the leaves nearest the heat radiating fiues, and not to cure the more remotely located tobacco, as is the case where such flues are formed from sheet metal and maintained at a relatively high temperature.

The foregoing descriptionand the accompanying drawings to which it relates, describes what might be termed the preferred modes of practicing the invention. It is to be clearly understood, however, that the invention includes each and every novel feature or combination of novel features herein disclosed, subject only to the restrictions of the prior art, and that the invention may assume other forms and it is not to be limited to the particular and specific structure shown and described herein.

Having thus described my invention what I I claim is:

1. In combinatio with a tobacco drying shed, a heating plant for the shed comprising, a combustion chamber, and an elongated passageway inside the shed in communication with said combustion chamber and a chimney in communication with the passageway products of combustion from passageway being constructed in part at least of hollow tile with a portion at least of the walls thereof exposed to the heated products of combustion passing through said passageway and other walls arranged to constitute radiating surfaces of relatively large area, said tile being provided with open ends and placed so that the air in the shed may circulate therethrough and posifor venting heated said chamber, said tioned so that any tobacco dropping upon the tile will land on the coolest portion of the tile.

2. In combination with a tobacco drying shed, a heating plant for the shed comprising, a combustion chamber, and an elongated horizontally disposed passageway inside the shed in communication with said combustion chamber and a being formed with a plurality of open passageways and laid with its open ends exposed so that air in the shed may circulate through such pas-v sageways.

3. In combination with a tobacco drying shed, a heating plant for the shed comprising, a combustion chamber, and an elongated passageway inside the shed in communication with said combustion chamber and a chimney in communication with the passageway for venting heated products of combustion from said chamber, said passageway being of masonry construction with portions at least of the walls thereof of open channeled construction and constituting radiating surfaces of relatively large area for heating the air in the shed, the channeled portion of said walls having wall parts spaced outwardly from contiguous wall parts which are exposed to the products of combustion in the passageway.

4. In combination with a tobacco drying shed, a heating plant for the shed comp'rising,a combustion chamber, and an elongated passageway inside the shed in communication with said combustion chamber and a chimney in communicapassageway being constructed of brick and building tile with one wall of the tile exposed to the heated products of combustion in the passageway and the open ends of the tile arranged to permit the passage of the air in the shed therethrough.

5. In combination with a tobacco drying shed, a heating plant for the shed comprising, a combustion chamber, and an elongated passageway inside the shed in communication with said combustion chamber and a chimney in communication with the passageway for venting heated products of combustion from said chamber, said passageway being constructed of brick with a top wall of building tile laid cross-wise with respect to the passageway with the open ends thereof exposed so as to permit the circulation of air through the channels of the tile.

6. In combination with a tobacco drying shed, a masonry floor for the shed, a. furnace or fireand heat radiating fines of masonry construction on the floor of the shed and in communication with the interior of said furnace and venting into said chimney, said flues being constructed in part at least from hollow building tile with the hollow interior of the tile open at its opposite ends to the atmosphere of the shed to permit the circulation of air therethrough.

"I. In combination with a tobacco drying shed, a heating plant therefor comprising, a. combustion chamber, a chimney, and a passageway inside the shed connecting said-combustion chamber to said chimney and constituting a means relatively thin wall section in contact at one side 7 with the heated products of combustion and exposed at its opposite side to the air in the shed and wall means located in closely spaced relation with respect to said thin wall section and thereby heated, said means constituting a relatively low temperature radiating surface and said thin wall section constituting a relatively high temperature radiating surface for transferring heat to 3 the interior of the shed by means of convection currents, said wall means being in a position to shield the tobacco in the shed from heat radiated directly by said thin wall section and also to guard the thin wall section against tobacco dropping thereon and thereby becoming ignited.

HERMAN W. KOESTER. 

